John Cena's 10 Greatest Matches Of All-Time

Cena has battled "you can't wrestle" chants from WWE fans and navigated criticisms of his "five moves of doom" over the years, but his talent and longevity in the business have led to some classic matches that will stand the test of time in pro wrestling history.

Ahead of the retirement of the WWE GOAT, here are John Cena's 10 greatest matches of all-time.

10. John Cena vs. Umaga - WWE Royal Rumble 2007, Last Man Standing Match

I can still picture Umaga rumbling across the announce tables and crashing through Cena. That's an image that's hard to forget. 2007 was an odd year for Cena. He was firmly established as the top guy in WWE, but he was battling very vocal, negative feedback from WWE fans in buildings around the world. Why? Cena was pushed down fans' throats to an extent, but mainly some in the WWE Universe were fatigued of the Cena schtick that they'd been fed for nearly two years by this time.

Umaga was a character created for Cena to destroy. Think something like Hulk Hogan and Earthquake. Umaga was the beast that Cena was to slay. He did, but the question was whether or not fans would actually cheer Cena for the slaying. They did, and that wasn't certain at the time.

Cena and Umaga worked at a furious pace that was both violent and unique. Cena sold for Umaga to make him into that monster figure, but then dug deep on his own in order to beat him. Cena won the Last Man Standing Match by choking out Umaga with the broken ring ropes.

Because of the violence, Cena earned respect with this match. The 50/50 chants were very much alive after it, but it was at this point that fans needed to start admitting that Cena could work.

9. John Cena vs. RVD - One Night Stand 2006

"If Cena Wins, We Riot." It's the fan sign that will live in infamy. At One Night Stand in 2006, Cena entered the lion's den of the ECW world and not only carried himself, but carried the match he was in.

RVD was his opponent, and the WWE Championship was on the line in front of the raucous ECW crowd. Cena adapted wonderfully. He was the WWE corporate babyface most nights, but not on this one. He knew it too and played the crowd like a fiddle.

Cena worked the match like a heel, but flipped "heel" on its head. A typical babyface move of Cena giving fans his shirt was a diabolical bad guy plot in this environment. Cena tossed it. Fans tossed it back. Cena tossed it back. Fans did the same. Not the best Cena match from an in-ring perspective, but the psychology and storytelling were on another level.

Cena did business in this one. He put over RVD and gave WWE fans one of the most memorable title changes of that era.

8. John Cena vs. Daniel Bryan - WWE SummerSlam 2013

A powerful and important babyface vs. babyface match, which led to a massive WrestleMania moment just a handful of months later.

In 2013, Daniel Bryan was an unstoppable tidal wave. Cena was the face of the company, but Bryan was the fan choice. He was likable and the audience was ready to climb on his back and ride him all the way to the WWE Championship.

In storyline, Cena picked Bryan as his SummerSlam opponent because of the momentum he had, and the match was built around that narrative. Bryan played the underdog and Cena the corporate juggernaut. Again, Cena did business on this night and lost the WWE Championship to Bryan.

That title reign lasted all of five minutes because Triple H and Randy Orton screwed him out of the championship. The booking was obnoxious at the time, but led to an all-time WWE Championship run for Bryan leading up to WrestleMania 30.

7. John Cena vs. Cody Rhodes - WWE SummerSlam 2025, Street Fight

It was the peak of the John Cena retirement tour in 2025 for many reasons. First, SummerSlam 2025 was the night when WWE pivoted away from John Cena as a heel. During this match, Cena broke out his old entrance, which basically gave fans permission to cheer him during his final stanza like they wanted to for months.

Cena as a heel wasn't a good idea, and his babyface turn ahead of and during this match articulated WWE's understanding of that point. With Cena back regularly, a match with Cody Rhodes always made sense, and this was the one that should have happened at WrestleMania. Instead, we got Travis Scott and a bizarre heel Cena winning the championship there for the record 17th time.

At SummerSlam, Cena and Rhodes had chemistry together as babyfaces that they didn't have as heels. The match played into viciousness and wanting to win, but that story was built on the narrative of respect between the two guys.

This was Cena's best worked match of the retirement tour up until that point. It also very much righted the overall business ship of Cena's retirement.

6. John Cena vs. Shawn Michaels - WWE Raw April 2007

An in-ring classic. This match lasted 55 minutes and took place in London following their WrestleMania 23 showdown less than a month prior.

This match felt like WWE tossed up their hands on Raw that week and said, "just let Cena and Michaels go out there and do their thing. Carry us." Boy, did they ever.

The match had time to build significant drama, which paid off in near-falls and near-submissions. That drama hooked the audience from the get-go, and Cena and Michaels both sold like pros to keep them hooked for nearly an hour.

The WWE Championship that Cena successfully defended against Michaels at WrestleMania was not on the line, which gave WWE the opportunity for Michaels to get his win back and send the audience home happy. The pop for the finish was massive and it was all rooted in the pristine nature of the match.

5. John Cena vs. Edge - WWE Unforgiven 2006, TLC Match

Without Edge, there isn't a John Cena. Edge is a signature Cena rival and the two men battled for various championships at various points throughout the years. This match was the one that made their rivalry legendary.

The WWE Championship hung above the ring and the TLC stipulation favored Edge because of his long history in ladder matches. Cena hung with him and that was part of the story. Could Cena go where he needed to in the match to get the win?

Cena did, but he couldn't believe that he did. The finish saw Cena hit Edge with an AA off the top of a ladder and through two tables that were stacked in the ring. Cena was emotional after hitting that move and pulling down the championship. He looked stunned, and it made the audience think. Did they go too far in the match? That selling by Cena added a layer of intensity to the physical violence that the match was built on.

4. John Cena vs. The Rock - WrestleMania 28

Once in a lifetime. Kind of. Cena and The Rock wrestled at WrestleMania 29 a year later, but this was Cena's coming-out party. It was a moment where he went from being a top wrestling guy to becoming a potential big crossover star.

The build to this match featured some historic promo battles between Cena and Rock, but it was the spectacle on the night of WrestleMania 28 that will be remembered forever.

That's what WrestleMania is all about: spectacle. This match had it in droves — huge entrances for both guys, tons of finishers, near falls, and energy. Cena should get a lot of credit for how good this was. It was The Rock's first singles match in years, and Cena pulled intense action out of him.

The Rock won in the end because Cena got a little cocky. But Cena was the ultimate winner. He leveled up because of his work before and during this match.

3. John Cena vs. CM Punk - WWE Raw February 2013

What do you get when two stars with chips on their shoulders get time in a Raw main event? This match. Cena was set to wrestle The Rock at WrestleMania this year, but even he seemed to understand that it should have been CM Punk in that slot opposite him in the ring.

Cena and Punk didn't grapple at WrestleMania, but they had a WrestleMania match on this episode of Raw instead. In the match, Cena hit a hurricanrana out of nowhere. He also took a piledriver from Punk, which was a banned move inside WWE at that time.

Only top stars like these two could get away with such blatant rule breaking in a Vince McMahon led WWE. Punk and Cena pushed the envelope in this one and the crowd was on the edge of their seats and reacting the entire time.

2. John Cena vs. CM Punk - WWE Money in the Bank 2011

An all-timer. Throughout the years, Cena has been at his best in matches when he has represented the status quo in WWE. This match is the ultimate example of that dynamic. CM Punk represented the anti-Cena. The anti-WWE. The anti-status quo. Punk was best in that role.

So, in this match you had Cena at his best and Punk at his best. The hometown Chicago crowd? They were at their best too. The environment in the building felt like a heavyweight boxing championship match, and Cena fanned the flames that were against him.

Cena recognized the moment and the character he needed to play in that spot, and he played it perfectly. The action in this match was coated in worry. The story was that if Punk loses, he leaves the WWE, and if he wins, he leaves the WWE, but with the WWE Championship. Fans wanted to see the chaos that would unfold if that happened.

If you take out the in-ring element of this match, which was good in its own right, it's probably the number one Cena match ever. It's certainly the most memorable.

1. John Cena vs. AJ Styles - WWE Royal Rumble 2017

John Cena tied Ric Flair for the most world championships ever when he defeated AJ Styles to win the WWE Championship in this match. That title run proved to be flat, but the match? Far from it.

This was Cena in ring technician mode. He and Styles stayed in the ring for most of the match and just used pure pro wrestling to get it over. Styles was a perfect opponent for Cena because of his size and ring acumen. Cena could physically do a lot with Styles, and it made for unique spots.

On the surface, it would be reasonable to think Cena would dust Styles at this time, but he hadn't up until that point. Styles defeated Cena at SummerSlam the year before, and with that card flipped over for fans, it allowed the audience to invest, buy in, and bite on the near finishes that were dropped in throughout the bout.

At this time, WWE fans already accepted the fact that Cena was a very good in-ring worker. He had shed that old stigma. If anyone hadn't, they certainly did after this one.